by Nina Lincoln
I guess you were good for something, after all - thanks, Dad.
*****
I’m too afraid Ben will appear behind me to take the known way back to the interstate. Instead, I get lost in the neighborhood and drive around for a while.
I lost my phone in the cemetery. I have no way of calling anyone or pulling up a map, and my head aches so bad, I can barely see.
Eventually, I pull over on a residential street and lean my head against the steering wheel, fading in and out of consciousness.
“Miss?” A thin voice calls through the glass.
Jumping out of my skin, I groan when my head throbs in tune to the spike of adrenaline surging through me painfully.
Turning my head slowly to stave off the ache that comes anyway, I whimper at the older woman standing on the other side. Her eyes widen when she takes me in, and she goes to open the door, but it’s locked.
“Open the door, dear,” she says, staring at me with concerned eyes.
Reaching for the automatic lock, I press the button and lean my head back, vomit roiling as I take deep breaths, hoping to avoid what will surely be a painfully disgusting display of sickness.
“What happened?” she asks, leaning forward with her hand hovering over my face.
“Attacked,” I mumble, my eyes fluttering closed again.
“Floyd! Floyd, come quick!”
I barely register the change as Floyd helps me into his car, and they drive me to the hospital where I’m brought back straight away and put in a gown.
Nurses probe me with torture devices, doctors shining lights in my eyes, and eventually, I give in and puke into the bucket placed under my nose just in time.
It’s a wretched feeling, and I cry through the ordeal, the pain in my head so intense, I crave oblivion.
“What’s your name, hon?” a nurse asks.
“Finn,” I mumble.
“Finn, what?”
“Huhart,” I say with a laugh, moaning when it pulses in my temple.
On my first day at Northside, I fumbled over my new last name, and my dick teacher called me Ms. Huhart ever since, his evil genius.
“Can you tell me who your emergency contact is?”
“Aunt Maggie.”
“What’s her number?”
“I don’t know, lost my phone,” I mumble.
“Is she at home? Can we call her there?”
“No, at work, I don’t know.”
“Do you know someone who does?”
“Yes, Colt. Call Colt. At bookstore, Book Nook.”
*****
I rouse several times, the nurses poking and prodding at me every time, and despite their orders that I shouldn’t sleep, I fall back into it as soon as they leave the room.
The older lady who found me sits with me quietly, and I don’t know how much time passes before a ruckus ensues, and I open my eyes to find Colt arguing with a nurse just outside my room.
With trembling lips, I whisper his name, and his blindingly beautiful pale eyes swing my way before he brushes past the nurse with a snarl and stops by my side, his eyes running over my head grimly.
“Fuck Finn, I thought,” his voice cracks, “I almost lost my mind. I was halfway to the damn cemetery when my mom called me from the bookstore. The police went out there but found nothing and chewed me out for calling in a prank.”
Smiling softly, I grab his hand clenched in a fist by my side and say, “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you, sorry? Baby, this is Ben’s fu-fault,” he says, looking over at my visitor curiously.
She smiles benignly and stands, patting my hand, “I’ll go, dear. I see you’ve got your gentleman here.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, to which she smiles, pats Colt on the back, and leaves.
“Who’s she?”
“She found me,” I murmur. It’s the last thing I remember before falling asleep again.
After which, I’m awakened what feels like every ten minutes, spying Colt seated beside me before fading away every time.
The slow, steady beep of my monitor wakes me later, and this time I see Maggie seated beside me with a concerned expression on her face.
Glancing around worriedly, I find Colt wrapped uncomfortably on a chair near the door, sleeping soundly on the tiny furniture.
Smiling slightly, I whisper, “Maggie.”
She looks up and smiles tiredly, leaning forward and taking my hand. “Helluva way to celebrate your birthday, kid.”
I chuff and wince, tears prickling behind my eyes. “I miss her.”
“I know, kid,” she says softly.
Turning my gaze to my hands, I say through watery tears, “I let her down. I didn’t help her when I could have. I watched her watch me, and I let her down. She was begging me to help her, and I was too afraid.”
“Oh kid, if I know my sister and I do, she was looking at you with all the love she had to give because she knew it would be what you took with you after. Mary would’ve wanted you to survive and move on, not worry about her. You were too young to fight back. Besides, what would it have gotten you? Dead. Mary wanted you to live. I know it doesn’t seem this way now, but you were allowed to be there for her as she left this cruel world. You gave her a gift. Never regret it.”
Nodding silently, I cry into my hand covering my mouth, mourning her death, but as Maggie said, celebrating her life. Perhaps that’s why she stared at me so intently - she was giving me her goodbye in the only way she could while taking comfort in the fact she wasn’t alone.
I can never go back, but I can remember, and it’s what I try to do every damn day.
*****
The police interview me the next day, asking me dozens of questions until I’m exhausted all over again. Ben made the mistake of assuming I was compliant, and now he will be facing charges for his stupidity.
Although I relayed his insistence about my stalker, they were skeptical about the story Ben fed me, sure he’s the one who’s been harassing me, and maybe he is. I don’t know, but I’m not sure Ben is the end game - it makes no sense for him to make up someone else as my stalker.
This means I’m likely still in danger from a faceless person who’s willing to use psychopaths like Ben to get to me. Colt’s grim through the explanation, and I know if he had his way, he’d be the one putting Ben away, permanently.
I’m discharged and sent home, finally given pain meds that make me spacy but reduce the throb to a dull ache.
Colt argues with Maggie, but she wins, and he goes home but not without a sweet kiss goodbye that I dream about as I doze all the way home. Once there, I balk at the thought of sleeping in my bed, blacking out on the couch instead.
Over the next few days, it's just Maggie and I since she took a couple of days off and barred any visitors, including Colt. When he’s finally allowed over, he enters with an exasperated glare for her, to which she ignores as she lectures me about setting the alarm and not leaving the house before heading off to her shift at the plant.
Ben’s MIA, and until he’s arrested, she’s particularly uneasy. I am too, but I know he’s only a piece of the problem. The root is dug deep, and I have no way of pulling it loose.
“Are you okay, Princess?” Colt asks, rounding the couch and slipping in behind me.
I snuggle into his warmth and nod sleepily. It’s all I’ve done since I got home, and with a new dose of meds, I’ll be back to it in no time.
“Sleepy,” I mutter.
“Sleep, Baby,” he says softly, kissing my temple. “Would you be more comfortable in bed?”
Convulsing under him, I shake my head no, and he quiets.
“Fuck,” he mutters, exhaling deeply.
Chapter Seven
The next few days pass quietly as I slowly come out of my drug-induced haze and join the living. Colt somehow arranges to be at home with me, meaning he’s not in school, and I think this makes Maggie feel better about leaving me home alone, but we both know this can't go on forever.
<
br /> Eventually, we will have to move on with our lives, whether we find Ben and my fan or not - this doesn't exactly give me the warm fuzzies, to say the least.
Colt’s sitting in front of me, working on his homework, while I watch mindless television. At some point, I’ll have to catch up on my own work, but I’m not interested now. Besides, I don't think any of my teachers want me to complete the work while I’m drooling from pain meds.
Glancing at Colt, I smile, marveling at where we are, here together, and sensing my gaze, he turns from where he’s seated, giving me a soft smile.
My heart lurches at that smile, adoration, and dare I say it, love cascading through me. We’ve come so far, and I still reel under the changes in our relationship. I only wish it didn't have to be under circumstances such as these.
“What do you need, Princess?” he asks, rising and pecking me on the lips.
I open under him, and he moans, running his tongue along my lower lip before pulling back abruptly. “Fuck Finn, don’t tempt me. You need to rest.”
“I don't want to rest,” I pout, looking at him from beneath my lashes.
A tortured expression crosses his features before he says roughly, “What if I just made you feel good, Baby?”
“You’d do that for me?” I ask breathlessly, my body heating in all the right places as my core pulses with awareness.
He groans at my look, his pupils dilating, and I smile brightly, the greedy part of me gratified I can make him need just as much as I.
And when his eyes light up at my smile, shining with desire and something else, affection, maybe I don't know, it makes my heart sing. Gone are the days of my broody Colt, and in its place, this soft man who can deny me nothing.
“Oh, Finn, I’d do anything for you,” he breathes.
Sighing, I smile and lean back against the cushions. “Well, I don't want to do it if I can't do it with you.”
He smiles, his mouth curling into the devilish smirk I’ve come to love. “All in good time, Princess.”
Collapsing back to the couch, I hum under my breath, anticipating that time sooner rather than later.
“I have a bone to pick with you,” he says, his smile fading slightly.
Uh-oh. With a sinking sensation in my stomach, I ask, “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?” he chides, sitting down beside me and pulling my chin toward him.
“You didn’t tell me it was yours,'' I say mulishly.
He rears back with surprise before laughing. “I guess I didn’t, it's not important to me, but yours is.”
“Why?”
“Why? Finn, you’re important to me. The day is special for you, and it’s special for me. I understand you wanted to visit your mom. Maybe some time you can take me with you?”
It’s a sweet gesture, and I’m grateful he would want to go, but I’m not sure I can go back there anytime soon, which fills me with bitter rage. Ben has ruined my solace, the only place I can go to be with my mother. Fucker.
“Hey, Baby,” he says softly, “it's okay. We’ll go together. I promise you that fucker will never get a chance to come near you again.”
A shiver rolls through me at the ice-cold hate lighting up his eyes - he means it, and I pity Ben if Colt gets to him before the cops do.
“Here, let me show you something,” he says, standing from the couch. “It's your gift, you know, for the girl who has everything,” he teases.
I smile, although I’m aching to tell him that before him, I had nothing. Maybe now, though I do have everything.
Slowly he lifts his shirt, and I chuckle, “I thought you were making me wait?”
“Oh, Finn,” he says, licking his bottom lip, “I’m ready to take care of your ache. You just tell me when.”
Pouting, I watch him pull his shirt up and over his torso, running his hand slowly over his achingly beautiful chest. I feel the heat of that caress all the way to my core and bow a little off the couch, moaning when he smirks at me sexily.
Slowly my eyes focus on his tattoo, a fist in shades of black and grey, clenching a bright red rose, with drops of blood bleeding through the fingers from the thorns. To him, it was a warning never to get attached. To me, it's a reminder of all I’m fighting for with this lost boy.
“Wait,” I breathe, leaning forward.
Is that-? Yes, it is. Around the curve of the fist, written in beautiful cursive, is my name - Finley. But that’s not all, around the rose, clutched in the fingers - it says Princess in the same writing.
“You tattooed my name on your body?” I ask dumbfounded.
He smiles, but I can see the vulnerability behind his eyes. “I can't change my past, Finn. I can't change how I felt before, but I can add to it, I can add you into the picture, and now it's so much sweeter.”
“I don't understand,” I whisper, glancing between him and my name tattooed on his fucking chest.
“It’s a tattoo, I can't make it go away, but I can change its meaning. Now, Finn, now you’re there, and no matter what, I’m here with you. Maybe I was, am afraid to care, but it’s too late, I do. And I’m not willing to let this feeling go, for anything in the world. Ever.”
“So, you…”
“I love you, Finn Hart,” he says fervently, his bright eyes staring fiercely into mine.
I can see the beads of sweat on his brow, the tremble in his hands he’s trying to hide, this scares the shit out of him, but it should. Love is fragile, breakable, brutal, but it’s also amazing.
Smiling through the tears building in my eyes, I say softly, “I love you, too.”
A fierce need crosses his face as he falls into me gently and pulls me into him, kissing me softly. I can tell it’s taking a monumental amount of self-control, but he’s keeping himself in check for me, and it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Moving into his lap, I writhe above him, and he groans, pulling back.
“Finn-“
“Shh,” I say, putting my fingers over his lips before giving him a sultry smile and unbuttoning his jeans.
He gasps when I pull out his erection and stroke it, his eyes closing in bliss before flying back open and staring at where I’m fisting him.
“Oh, Baby,” he breathes, and I smile at him, with all my teeth, with all the love shining in my heart.
Unable to wait a moment longer, I drop my yoga pants to the floor and climb on top of him, easing down his length slowly as we stare into each other’s eyes heatedly.
When I reach the end and moan at the stretch, he smiles devilishly and strokes my hair behind my ear, whispering, “Ride me, Baby,”
“Yes,” I moan, raising and lowering myself slowly until I can take it no more, and I rub against the base of his dick, seeking my release in a slow, gentle wave.
Grabbing my hips, he surges into me gently, following closely behind and after we lay in each other’s arms until I fall into a deep sleep.
*****
“Colt?” I ask.
“Hm,” he says from where he’s seated at the end of the couch, gently caressing my hair.
“How did you find out about your parents?”
He stiffens below me, and my heart clenches in anticipation of his icy expression, but slowly he relaxes, and I feel my own tension fade. I’ve been dying to ask him for some time now because I believe that whatever makes Colt tick lies at the heart of this betrayal.
Even though we’re in a better place than we’ve ever been, I still worry that whatever holds him to his past will pull him back under at any time.
With a bitter laugh, he says, “Some bitch at school told me.”
“What?” I exclaim, rising from my reclined position on the couch.
“Yeah,” he says grimly. “Apparently, she was fucking Buck who told her...”
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
“Oh, it gets better. Apparently, Buck has known for years. He’d met my mom and everything. When the bitch told me, I didn’t believe her at first…” he says slowly.
“That’s fucked up,” I mutter, grabbing his hand.
Shaking himself out of it, he says, “Whatever.”
Turning back to the television, he stares at the screen with an intensity that makes my heart ache. I can’t imagine how it felt, the betrayal from all sides. He must have been devastated.
Sliding into his lap, I grab the sides of his face and whisper, “I love you.”
His eyes soften as he traces a lock of hair back from my face. “I love you too, Princess.”
*****
It’s Monday morning, and my days of bed rest are over. It’s weird to leave my house after hiding away for a week, and Maggie is worried. I can see it behind the tired lines on her face. I’m worried too, terrified actually, but I put on a show and hope she doesn't add my worry to her own.
Although Maggie had my car towed to the house, Colt picks me up and escorts me to his truck with a grim expression, and I smile tremulously at him when he kisses me softly in greeting, love pulsing gently in my heart.
We head to school with me tucked under his arm, and I have to suppress a laugh. He’s going so slow I think the eighty-year-old grandma behind us is impatient.
“Colt,” I say dryly, “I’m not glass. You can drive the speed limit to school.”
He shoots me a wry grin and speeds up, but it's still far slower than I know he usually goes. Charmed, I grin out my window so he can’t see, the smile slowly fading when we pull into the lot. For once, I’m grateful he has every class with me because I’m not sure I could do this knowing I might be alone.
Staring at the brick facade, I take a deep breath and let it loose slowly. “Does anyone else know?”
“Yes, a few people. I told Hayden because I need the extra eyes. And a few others asked about you.”
“Like who?”
“Melissa, Teddy. Dirk and Ramie. George. Your friends,” he says simply.
Warmth blooms in my heart, and I smile, hopeful in the face of this stalker shit because I do have friends now, and it feels amazing after the last few months.
But on the heels of that is worry, and I mutter, “Colt, maybe it’s not safe. You know, for us to be seen together.”
